Serially Coupled Self-Excited Pneumatic Actuator for Environment-Adaptive Steering Robot

Methods utilizing mechanical structures or chemical reactions to simplify complex control systems (such as solenoid valves required for pneumatically driven soft actuators) have been gaining interest. However, movements developed from these approaches are limited to the combined abilities of the robot's components. That is to say, adapting a robot's motion to its environment carries a high developmental and computational cost. Here, we focus on self-excited vibration to achieve a robot that can generate adaptive behavior through interaction with its environment. Specifically, we propose a serially coupled self-excited pneumatic actuator that can change its motion in response to contact with surrounding structures. The actuator is modeled and prototyped to evaluate its performance. Subsequently, we apply this actuator to a robot that can steer itself without a complex control system. We experimentally confirm that the robot can execute basic trajectories, including corners.